Hey everyone,
I have discovered that there is more to E-bay than I thought. Retirees are making a living by being sellers at e-bay and Ms Miriam Otto is one of the many teachers that are conducting on-line classes (for retirees mostly), that teaches people how to sell well at e-bay. Please read more about this story here http://www.auctiva.com/edu/entry.aspx?id=Auctiva-User-is-eBay. Definitely one of the unique benefits of asychronus technology!
Ebay has transformed itself from being just a shopping site, into a place that can generate "jobs."
This article is really interesting, who knew there were people making a living off of E-Bay. I think it would be interesting to review the class Otto teaches on using E-Bay to discover some fundamental lessons we could bring into a classroom. For example, the article notes, "For instance, she used to list large items that had to be shipped in over sized or irregular boxes, significantly increasing her shipping costs. Now she focuses on smaller items and clothing, items she knows well." Maybe there is a math lesson here in which the teacher can use E-Bay to teach certain problem solving mathematical skills. Later on Otto comments, "I tell them they have to make the buyer happy and sometimes that means they have to refund the money." Maybe there are inherent marketing lessons in the E-Bay course as well. At any rate it is interesting that there is an educational arena built around E-Bay usage and it would be interesting to extrapolate that course into real world activities featuring E-Bay in the classroom.
ReplyDelete-Jilian
One thing that could be used from this eBay model in education is writing a complaint letter, or on the other side, writing an apology/policy letter. These are incredibly sensitive areas where the use of language positions the writer in a way that asserts a desired outcome, yet manages to be civil. I had taken a technical writing class last Spring and was assigned to write both of the above. I worked in a team of 3 other young adults (20's) and was disappointed that this skill had not been learned by them prior to college. I enjoyed working with them immensely, and was glad I could be a sounding board.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a job for me! My uncle (who is not a retiree) actually sold items on eBay for a living last year. It seemed like it didn't end up as profitable as he had hoped, but it must have been nice to work from home!
ReplyDelete